IT 

THE    SHORT    WAY    WITH    THE    FILIPINOS    ^^^^^  t 

To  thp  Editor  of  iho   Tran.^cript  : 

The  shflilow  of  the  "man  on  liorscback"  U^oms  ominously  against 
onv  political  horizon.  General  ^lerritt  says  we  have  -outgrown  the 
constitution,"  and  brushes  it  aside  without  even  a  military  salute  or 
a  voUev  over  its  grave  in  the  mad  rush  for  conquest  and  military 
dDminatiou.  Admiral  Sampson  says  our  sacred  obligation  to  Cuba 
is  of  no  account:  -'We  are  there;  we  intend  to  rule,  and  that  is 
all  there  is  of  it."  And  now  comes  General  Shaffer,  uttering  in 
a  Presbyterian  church  and  apparently  without  rebuke,  a  sentiment 
more  barbarous  and  bloodthirsty  than  any  which  can  be  quoted  from 
the  semi-civilized  people  who  we  profess  to  believe,  arc  not  capable 
of  self-government. 

General  Shaffer  said  he  thought  a  military  government  was  the 
only  form  of  government  the  people  of  the  Philippines  would  respect. 
He  laid  it  down  as  a  general  principle  that  not  one  foot  of  ground 
gained  by  as  much  as  one  drop  of  American  blood  should  be  given  up. 
^'  ISIy  plan  would  be,"  he  said,  "  to  disarm  the  natives  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  even  if  we  have  to  kill  half  of  them  to  do  it.  Then  I 
would  treat  the  rest  of  them  with  perfect  justice."  (  !) 

Over  the  dead  bodies  of  five  million  people,  if  necessary,  this 
American  general  would  march  to  the  conquest  of  those  distant 
islands  ;  pe'ople  guilty  of  no  crime  of  which  George  Washington  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  were  not  also  guilty  ;  guilty  of  no  act  which  has 
not  hitherto  been  regarded  by  all  true  Americans  as  a  virtue. 

This  is  the  logic  of  imperialism.  Let  all  Americans  heed  it  well, 
and  see  whither  it  leads.  It  is  the  logic  of  all  efforts  at  the  enforced 
"civilization"  of  the  weaker  races.  "We  don't  want  the  Phdip- 
pines,"  wrote  a  good  friei,id  to  me  the  other  day;  "neither  are  the 
Filipinos  capable  of  self-government,  in  my  judgment.  They  need  a 
dictator  and  a  strong  hand.  Doubtless  many  will  die  in  the  new 
reVime,  but  those  that  survive  will  be  a  better  race."  This  gentleman 
sincerely  thought  he  was  applying  the  logic  of  nature's  own  evolu- 
tionary method  to  this  question.  lie  was  mistaken.  The  ettorts  of 
our  Anodo- Saxon  nations  to  civilize  inferior  races  by  force  have  all 
been  tragical  failures.  Witness  New  Zealand,  where  about  10,000 
l^laoris  survive  out  of    700,000  who  were  there  a  century  ago.      Wit- 


ness  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  where  Captain  Cook  found  a  quarter  of  a 
niilliou  of  natives  in  177G  (he  estimated  the  number  at  400,000),  and 
wliere  barel}'  3'), 000  of  pure  Hawaiian  blood,  all  "Christians,"  now 
survive  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  tragical  taking-  off  of  their  forefathers, 
by  imported  disease,  rum  and  the  enforced  change  of  habits  under  the 
new  regime  of  '"civilization."  It  is  not  the  testimony  of  history  that 
"  the  best  survive."  The  strongest  and  ablest  resist  and  are  killed 
off.  Those  lackiug  in  vitality,  who  supinely  submit  to  the  inevitable, 
are  the  ones  who  survive.  It  was  so  with  the  IMaoris,  the  Ilawaiians, 
the  American  Indians.  It  is  the  fate  of  all  peoples  on  Avliom  condi- 
tions of  life  are  forced  in  advance  of  their  functional  development. 

Does  the  tragedy  of  the  passing  of  these  peoples  bring  any  ade- 
quate compensation  to  the  world?  The  sociologist  and  ethical  teacher 
is  compelled  to  say  "  no."  It  brutalizes  and  debases  the  conqueror. 
It  perpetuates  des[)otic  methods  of  government.  It  prolongs  the  evil 
reign  of  militancy,  and  so  dela3-s  all  efforts  for  social,  political  and 
industrial  reform.  It  debases  labor  and  gives  rise  to  class  distinc- 
tions, and  so  delays  the  dawn  of  human  brotherhood.  In  so  far  as  it 
secures  the  domination  of  one  type  of  civilization  it  prevents  that 
variation  of  types  which  is  an  essential  condition  to  all  progress. 
When  a  single  race  or  civilization  dominates  the  world  it  will  ring  the 
death-knell  of  the  human  race. 

The  Maoris,  the  Hawaiians,  the  Filipinos,  tiie  Cubans,  are  all 
more  comi)etent  to  rule  themselves  than  we  are  to  govern  them,  judged 
by  any  test  that  implies  their  permanent  betterment  and  survival  as  u 
people.  We  have  begun  at  the  wrong  end  in  our  efforts  to  civilize  the 
world.  No  savage  race  ever  failed  to  meet  the  approaches  of  a  supei'ioi- 
people  with  friendly  salutations  and  receptive  minds  for  all  that  makes 
for  their  true''  uplifting  when  they  have  been  ai)proaclied  in  a  just 
and  humane  spirit.  Science  supplements  the  assurance  of  ethics  and 
religion  that  the  way  of  peace  and  brotherly  kindness  is  the  only  way 
to  help  the  weaker  races.  The  path  of  conquest  is  gory  with  the  blood 
of  victors  and  victims  alike,  and  its  method  is  condemned  by  the  cold, 
clear  judgment  of  social  science  as  emphatically  as  by  the  Sermon  on 

the  Mount. 

Lewis  Ci.  .Taxes. 
Cami5Rti>gk,  January  12. 


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